Source：科學60秒
Date：2009.07.03
Summary
最近的研究聲稱已經找到了一些證據證明絕對音感和基因有關。Recent research claims to have found some evidence for a genetic link to perfect pitch.
Genetic Link for Perfect Pitch?
We might think perfect pitch is an innate talent. Well, a study in the American Journal of Human Genetics is providing some evidence for that.Perfect pitch, aka absolute pitch, is the rare ability to name or recreate musical notes like A or middle C without using any comparable reference.Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, studied the results from an online test taken by over ten thousand people. Not surprisingly, individuals tended to either have perfect pitch or not.But in a closer study of 73 families researchers found a region of genes on chromosome eight in those with perfect pitch and from European ancestry. More study is needed to zero in on just which gene or multiple genes might be responsible. And for comparison they intend to study individuals without perfect pitch but with equivalent musical training.There is some evidence that babies have the ability for absolute pitch, so researchers for this study theorize that maybe most lose this ability with age, but that what a so-called pitch gene does is extend this talent through a crucial period in childhood.
Audio
Words
genetic： [dʒəˈnetɪk] 基因的，遺傳的，起源的，起因的
innate： [ɪˈneɪt] 天生的，特有的，固有的，內在的
American Journal of Human Genetics：《美國人類遺傳學雜誌》
University of California：加利福尼亞大學
chromosome：[ˈkrəʊməsəʊm] 染色體
ancestry： [ˈænsestri] 祖先，血統
zero in on：瞄準，定位
equivalent： [ɪˈkwɪvələnt] 相等的，相當的，等效的，等價的
theorize：[ˈθɪəraɪz] 推理，創建理論，建立學說
Website address
https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/genetic-link-for-perfect-pitch-09-07-03/
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